Facebook Live for Direct Sellers with OBS STUDIO

Learn how to use OBS Studio to stream LIVE to Facebook. *This is a post that you might want to bookmark as it will be kept up-to-date with new and additional info.

Ready to go live? Here is the button for going live in pages, profiles or groups!

Are you on FACEBOOK LIVE? I am so excited about talking about Facebook Live for Direct Sellers in this first of many posts. It’s the perfect tool to bridge the gap between the smart business you do “offline” with the connections and possibilities of connecting with people “online.” It’s a way to bring your personal brand called “ME” alive to people who otherwise wouldn’t get to experience all you have to offer.

You can go LIVE with FACEBOOK via mobile or via desktop computer. Going live via mobile is simple — just click the “live video” icon in a status update and you’re live in seconds!

GO LIVE VIA DESKTOP

This post is all about going LIVE via desktop. We are putting the cart before the horse here and will talk at length about LIVE VIDEO via mobile in future posts. But, for anyone in our Marketing ME! course … or in our exclusive FB GROUP, the system below that I am going to describe is exactly what I use to share FB LIVE video with slides, video or other “inputs” to the group. There are much more sophisticated (read “costly”) methods and software to stream live into FACEBOOK from your desktop, but one of the principles I aim to uphold is that when I share ideas with direct sellers, I am not coming from the point of view of a CEO of a company but as a former field leader who had to try to be as “duplicatable” as possible.

Going live with FACEBOOK is more challenging (right now) via desktop. You have to use special live encoding/streaming software to integrate with Facebook’s API. Most of them are out of the reach of most direct sellers in terms the price/investment it takes. But … there’s one that I’ve been using that I like (except for a slight audio lag that you fix in the mixer and an issue recognizing my external mic) … It’s called OBS Studio.

This article will walk you through the steps you need to follow to get OBS up and running LIVE into your FACEBOOK groups, events, pages and your personal profile. (For events, you actually embed the URL of the live stream, and the event cannot be set to PRIVATE.)

These instructions are designed to show you the way to do it regardless of whether you want to stream into your page, profile or group. If you want to stream just to your page, you’ll just start the process IN Facebook rather than CLICKING THE MAGIC BUTTON IN THIS POST.

DOWNLOAD OBS STUDIO

It’s easy to get the OBS software. Go HERE to download the version you need – MAC or WINDOWS.

VIDEO WALKTHROUGH – HOW TO USE OBS STUDIO FOR THE FIRST TIME

Here is a walk-through video that shows you how to use OBS Studio the first time. If you’re more of a visual (non-video) type, scroll down.

STEP-BY-STEP SET-UP INSTRUCTIONS FOR STREAMING LIVE TO FACEBOOK WITH OBS STUDIO FOR THE FIRST TIME

SET UP YOUR STREAM KEY and CONNECT FB with OBS STUDIO for the LIVE STREAM

(If you want a more visual step-by-step, scroll down to the LONG visual.)

** Note: This process teaches you how to go live in a profile, page or group. If you just want to go straight to your PAGE (not to a group or profile) take a look at the instructions below the infographic below. It’s a similar process – you just start it in Facebook with “Publishing Tools” from your Page.

To go live into a profile, page OR Group:

Click the BUTTON that connects you to your Facebook Account VIA the API (which is like a back door into Facebook.) The button is at the top of this post and at the bottom. (I learned this technique from Ian Anderson Gray.)

Choose where you want the LIVE VIDEO to stream — your profile, a page you manage, a group or an event.

Give your video a title.

Find the STREAM KEY and copy it.

Open the OBS software.

Click the button for SETTINGS.

Choose FACEBOOK LIVE from the Stream Menu.

Paste your STREAM KEY into the appropriate field.

Check your STREAM KEY to make sure it is accurate by clicking the SHOW button.

Click OK.

At this point you “could” go LIVE. But, you won’t have any “inputs” that will show up in the stream, so there are a few more pieces of the puzzle you need to know. If you’re all set, just glide past the long pinnable visual that recaps the above steps with visuals.

Here’s a visual you can Pin to Pinterest if you’d like. Or DOWNLOAD a pdf.

DO YOU JUST WANT TO GO LIVE TO YOUR PAGE?

There is another method for streaming right to a PAGE YOU MANAGE. Instead of clicking on the magic button on this post, all you need to do is the following:

Go to your page.

Click on “Publishing Tools” at the top.

Click on “Videos” on the left.

Click on “Live” at the top next to “Upload”.

You’ll get a window with the stream key. Grab it and put it into OBS the way it’s described above. You’ll get a chance to preview – and that’s where you can set up a title and grab the embed code if you want it.

Follow the same process to start the stream as above.

**This is a quick way to go live if you’re going right to your page. If you’re not sure OR you want to

ADD YOUR SCENES and SOURCES to your LIVE STREAM USING STUDIO MODE

STUDIO MODE

When you open OBS Studio for the first time, it is IN studio mode.

NON-STUDIO MODE

If you want to see a larger view of what’s LIVE on screen, you can click the Studio Mode button to de-select it. (It’s blue when selected and no color when not.)

SCENES

Once you understand the concept of SCENES and SOURCES in OBS Studio, the only other challenging aspects are making sure your AUDIO is being heard at all times AND that you get comfortable with transitioning from SCENE TO SCENE.

Think of scenes as the literal answer to “what will the viewers see?” Scenes include everything you want the viewer to see on his/her screen in the live video. They can include many parts including:

Live video via webcam

A view of a browser or other window on your screen (if you were going to show something on the web

Your whole computer display

A prepared video

A prepared image or images or a slideshow

Webinar/presentation slides

Any combination of these including the audio inputs from any or all of them

The LEFT SIDE is the SCENE that is in the cue. Think of the left side as the holding screen for the scene in cue, waiting for you to sent it to the LIVE FEED.

The RIGHT SIDE is the LIVE SCENE.

In the example below, you see that I have 6 different scenes. The one that is live is an image screen – like a title page. I always recommend having a title or image SCENE/SOURCE prepared so that at any instant you need to end the live video (especially if you work from a home office or kitchen where at any moment kids or animals or spouses might jump into the shot unexpectedly).

When you CLICK on a SCENE in the bottom left corner, it shows up FIRST in the left “in cue” side.

To get the left side to go LIVE, you simply click the TRANSITION button.

SOURCES

Scenes include inputs from one or more sources. So, for example, if all you are doing is streaming a video of yourself looking into a webcam, then that is ONE source. If you are using your webcam AND want to have slides, you’d have 2 sources.

You can layer the different sources within a scene and include many input sources at once.

BEFORE YOU GO LIVE WITH YOUR STREAM

It’s super smart to record your stream on your own computer as you are streaming LIVE to Facebook. While there is a method for downloading what you stream live to FB, the quality of that download is less than desirable. But, you have the ability to simultaneously record your OBS live video feed while you are streaming live to FB. And then, you can edit that video, post it on Youtube and other places — including your own personal blog if you have one. ** It downloads as an .flv file. One easy way to convert this is by using Wistia as your video hosting … you can upload the .flv file and embed it on a website/blog (just like the video above) AND then from Wistia you can download it back to your computer as an .mp4 if you ever need.

*I prefer Wisita over some other hosting — Youtube is great for videos you want the world to see, but I’d recommend having those videos also copied somewhere else so you control them. AWS (Amazon) is awesome for hosting video … but it isn’t as user friendly as it could be. And, Vimeo has always expressed a lack of love for direct sellers and mlm professionals. So, I choose not to recommend them.

GO LIVE WITH YOUR STREAM!

It’s easy to go live once you are all ready. ** DO A TEST RUN IN A PRIVATE GROUP or PAGE before you go live into your real one. You can set up a test group or event by making them private and adding one friend who will let you know if everything is working fine. Once you are comfortable, you can just go live and roll with the expected challenges of being on live video, but before your first few, I recommend doing a test in a “safe” environment first.

(As an aside … in our private FB group, I purposely do not over rehearse so that you can see how things unfold sometimes. In trainings I provide inside courses, I do and re-do slides, videos and documents/graphics over and over, but when going live with our group, I think it is important to be less polished because while you want to be professional, you don’t want to get “perfection paralysis” and never go live because you’re afraid of it tanking… go ahead and tank a few. It’s totally OK!)

To go live, follow these steps:

On the OBS STUDIO software click the button that says START STREAM. (After you have started the recording.)

Then go to your window with the FACEBOOK LIVE STREAM DETAILS.

A PREVIEW of your stream will appear in the window, and you’ll hear background noise because you’re preview is a stream that is not live yet.

If it looks the way you want (what you want showing when you go live is in the preview) SMILE and click the blue GO LIVE button.

I always recommend having a FACEBOOK window open where the live stream is supposed to start. After your words of welcome, ask for feedback that everyone is hearing you ok. (There is a short delay from when you say something and viewers see/hear it.)

When you are ready to be done … click the STOP STREAMING button. It wills top the LIVE FEED to FACEBOOK.

Then, click the STOP RECORDING button. It should automatically save.

IS YOUR AUDIO NOT SYNCING WITH YOUR VIDEO?

There are a lot of factors that can mess with how well your audio and video sync. It’s easy to look like a really poorly dubbed Kung Fu movie from the 1970s. But, the fix is relatively simple.

Inside OBS STUDIO, there is a Mixer setting in the center part of the console. What you’re looking for is the “Sync Offset” within the Mixer controls. In testing myself, I found that I had to play around with the settings depending on whether I was streaming in a Skype interview or not. What I’ve done is create a spreadsheet for myself so that I can quickly change the settings depending on what inputs I have going that day. My range is 250-1000 in either my desktop or mic audio.

About Laurie Girardi

Laurie eats, sleeps and dreams about providing smart solutions and cutting-edge resources for direct sellers across the globe. The key, in Laurie’s opinion, is the melding of classic core business principles and consumer-focused strategies with modern methods, tools and technology. Laurie teaches direct sellers how to grow and market their own BRAND ME! She's the Founder of directselling.me & the National Direct Selling Registry and a recognized direct selling expert.
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